Brooks & Dunn struck gold when they re-recorded their song “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” with their longtime friend Reba McEntire. They released their collaborative version of the song as a single, and it reached the #2 spot on the Hot Country Songs chart. It also crossed over to claim the 44th slot on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
The song led Brooks & Dunn and McEntire to a Grammy nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
Brooks & Dunn’s Ronnie Dunn co-wrote “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” with Terry McBride. So it goes without saying that the song means a lot to him.
Ronnie recently performed an updated rendition of “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” for an Apple Music Session. He was joined by a new duet partner this time around…rising country star Lainey Wilson.
Wilson made a name for herself after her song “Things a Man Oughta Know” went #1. The song was later named Song of the Year at the 2022 ACM Awards. Wilson also received the ACM Award for New Female Artist of the Year.
Her duet with Cole Swindell, “Never Say Never,” reached #1 as well. To top it off, Wilson was cast as a new character in Yellowstone‘s fifth season.
To add to it, Wilson has since won two CMA Awards. She has also earned two more Top 10 hits, “Heart Like a Truck” and “Wait in the Truck,” the latter song being a collaboration with HARDY.
Dunn had nothing but positive things to say about singing “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” with Wilson. She covered McEntire’s part of the song, and did so beautifully:
“Talk about a perfect voice for COWGIRLS DON’T CRY !” Dunn said in a post on social media. “Lainey Wilson stepped up and crushed it. I can’t thank her enough for adding a legitimate spark to the song !!! It’s exciting to see ‘real deal’ talent come along.”
Dunn shared a short clip of his duet with Wilson, and you can watch it below.